The deck is abuzz, as it often is, with mechanics putting the final touches on birds about to go up. Fuel lines are being decoupled, systems run through their startup procedures, and the raptor's hatch is already swung open with the last of the repair equipment being loaded in.

Samantha steps into the room, in her flight suit, helmet under her hand. She's always up for extra duty so doing something different is rather better for her. Even if it's just watching some people repair the hall. So she heads towards her usual raptor, Number 4, and begins the visual check around before looking up to see who is with her…

Kassia walks onto the flight deck her chief running up to catch her up and hand her off her helmet and give her a little imformation. She smiles at him and heads towards the Raptor, she ducks in helmet resting console as she begins to do preflight checks.

Helmet in his hand, Martin steps in a dark silence towards Wolf 3. With an angry look on his face, something on his mind, he does his best to make it passive as he heads to the ladder of his bird. Dumping his helmet inside, he starts to climb up the ramp and hop inside. Dropping into the seat, he starts the preflight checks.

Samantha frowns a moment, looking to Martin, about to ask… and this will, strangely, be the first CAP they'd flow together…. but they have work to do. So she swings into her bird too, giving Kassia a brief nod before settling back into her seat and beginning the interior checks. "Everything looks good here."

Roubani has three enlisted engineers with him, all of whom are suited out for a spacewalk on the hull. Not to say they all look happy about it - two seem alright even if the third looks a little nauseous. Roubani himself is doing the last few snaps and pulls on the suit, and checking his repair case. They'd just had a fast briefing down in engineering about the damaged FTL compartment, so words among the repair team are largely unnecessary.

Kai clatters down the stairs, and heads through the hangar bay at a brisk clip, helmet under one arm while he pops the last of his suit's pressure seals. A quick glance around is given to take account of the pilots flying his wing tonight, and then he's climbing up the ladder of his bird to settle in for pre-flight. Everything seems to check out, and he's helped with his helmet and seat harness by a lurking (and nervous) petty officer.

Kassia gives Samantha a thumbs up through the window and goes to flip on a few more switches, she then ducks out again to make sure the engineering team need any help getting gear stowed, when they arrive. Martine is also spotted and smiled at. She seems to be in a fairly good, mood right now.

Kai clatters down the stairs, and heads through the hangar bay at a brisk clip, helmet under one arm while he pops the last of his suit's pressure seals. A quick glance around is given to take account of the pilots flying his wing tonight, and then he's climbing up the ladder of his bird to settle in for pre-flight. Everything seems to check out, and he's helped with his helmet and seat harness by a lurking (and nervous) petty officer.

Kassia gives Samantha a thumbs up through the window and goes to flip on a few more switches, she then ducks out again to make sure the engineering team need any help getting gear stowed, when they arrive. Martine is also spotted and smiled at. She seems to be in a fairly good, mood right now.

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "All right. Dash, Case, form up on me once we're up there. Flash, you'll be on point while you get your crew into position up there. All vipers, get yourself into the tubes and launch when ready."

Roubani herds the three engineers towards Foxbat-1, helmets going on and air tubes secured with clicks and metallic snaps. They run through their own checks among themselves, mostly talk about tools that could be interpreted a number of ways.

Kassia smiles up at Roubani. "Good evening, Ensign." She says going to grab the Engineers gear stuff away. She then slips into her own seat begins to buckle in.
[Wolf-4: Samantha] Case's bird swings around, forming up on Kai's ass in the proper position with little flare…

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] "Evening, Nevice." Roubani watches to be sure all three of the enlisted are well buckled-in before taking care of his own pre-flight settling. His eyes are drawn a few times towards the command panel of the raptor and then turn away, watching the viewport.

[Wolf-1: Kai] Kai's viper slips out of the tubes just after Samantha's, and rolls smoothly into position at the 'nose' of the little viper pack.

[Wolf-3: Martin]
Bursting from his launch tube, Dash turns his Viper to fall into formation with Spider and Case. Eyes scanning over his Dradis, he keeps rather quiet, slipping his bird into position. His voice is clear, but blunt and to the point.

Kassia looks over towards Roubani and nods towards the co-pilots seat. "Wanna take a seat Ensign." She says softly. "Always use another pair of eyes." She says going to take the bracks off and begins lifting off nice and slowly, she turns the Raptor around and flys straight out of the landing bay.

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia looks over towards Roubani and nods towards the co-pilots seat. "Wanna take a seat Ensign." She says softly. "Always use another pair of eyes." She says going to take the bracks off and begins lifting off nice and slowly, she turns the Raptor around and flys straight out of the landing bay.

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] Roubani might have smiled a little, but the helmet makes it impossible to tell. "No, thank you Nevice. I'm as terrible a front-seat driver as I am a backseat one when it comes to Raptors." He nods towards the viewport. "We're going aft. There's a maintenance panel marked A-F88, you'll see it in a minute." The three engineers around babble amongst themselves as they wait.

[TAC3] "Flash" Kassia says, "From what I've been told Spider, it's the Ast Maintenance panel, A-F88 and we'll be on it in a few minutes."

[TAC3] "Case" Samantha says, "Nice night out here… clear sky, lots of stars. Sounds like time for a picinic. And I forgot my blanket."

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia smiles over towards Roubani, before glancing back towards the forwards area. "Right you are Ensign." She says going to slow down a little and head towards the damanged area, she slowly counts off the panels.

[Wolf-1: Kai] Afterburners bursting blue for a few seconds, Kai pitches his bird in a sharp roll to starboard as he drops off to chase the raptor. Okay, so he might be showing off just a liiiiittle bit. But he's entitled.

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] Roubani is likewise watching the Kharon's hull as they roll by. As they get closer, he motions to the terrible three to get ready, and they start undoing their safety belts. Toolkits in hand.

[Wolf-3: Martin] While Dash is still being rather flashy with his flying, per norm, he's not nearly as chatty as he is on any given sunday. Known to be a font of bored entertainment over the comms during CAPs, for some reason he's keeping it relaxed tonight.

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia rolls her eyes at the lead Viper. "Show off." She mutters but it's a good natured mutter, she's then back to watching for the panel, having not caught it on there first fly by. "Here, little panel, come to mummy." She says under her breath. "Any look, Ensign my eyes aren't catching it."

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Case keeps running scans on the whole surrounding area, just in case, since they aren't going to be able to help much with repairing the hall, but they sure as hell can keep an eye on their buttocks…

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] Roubani exhales quietly through his nose, eyes on the hull. "Give us the auxiliary searchlights? That panel's probably in shadow at this angle…"

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] :nods her head and leans forwards to flip on a switch, making the area more brighter. "Better?" She asks, glancing over her shoulder. "And you boys ready?" She asks, the Enlisted lot.

[Wolf-1: Kai] Spider remains quiet, for the most part, over the comms for now. His little swallowtail 'trick' is tempered back into more conservative flying— belly-up while he scans the airspace below the cruising raptor.

[TAC3] "Dash" Martin says, "It's that time of the month, Case."

[TAC3] "Flash" Kassia says, "He's more then likely stareing at Spider's, amazing ass…You did so kindly point it out."

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] Roubani sits forward, tapping the viewport 'glass' with his knuckles. "There, there it is. If you can just get us a little closer, Nevice? We should be able to latch on from right about there." The enlisted for the most part nod to Kassia. Except for one that's looking mighty sullen.

[Wolf-3: Martin] Glancing between his Dradis and the starfield before him, Dash continues to follow in formation alongside Case and behind Spider. Glancing over towards Case's Viper, he shakes his head at her. They're close enough for visual recognition. He gives her a thumb's up to let her know he's doing allright.

[Wolf-1: Kai] Kai might be chuckling into his helmet, it's pretty much impossible to tell. Either way, he remains quiet over the comms as the little group hones in on their busted panel.

[TAC3] "Case" Samantha says, "I… am not certain I can dignify either of those statements with a response."

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia nods her head and brings the Raptor right up along the side of the damanged area. "Close enough for you?" She asks, her eyes going to the sullen looking one. "Just a walk in the park, crewman…Nothing to it." She reasure the person, then laughs at Sam.

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Sam looks up through her helmet, studying the blue lit Martin for a few moments from her next door flying spot. She points to him and then points to another location… Apparently motioning to 'talk later?'

[TAC3] "Flash" Kassia says, "Good one Dash, I'll have to remember that guys also get PMT."
[Into the Wireless] Kassia says, "Good one Dash, I'll have to remember that guys also get PMT."

[TAC3] "Dash" Martin says, "When I sneeze it feels like a sponge exploding inside of me…"

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] The Raptor bounces off the side of the ship, at first before the young pilot can even herself out. "Whoops." She mutters, going to glance at Roubani. "I don't think I was meant to get in that close."

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Everything all right there, Flash?"

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] Roubani can no doubt hear the pilot chatter through the headset. Perhaps he's smiling. Perhaps he's ignoring it to focus. "Alright. Let's get into this hatch," he murmurs to the three ready to go. And they are indeed ready, until kassia bumps the ship and two of them stumble a bit where they were standing. The sullen one stares at the Raptor pilot and mutters something about early deaths.

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kas pulls a face at Sam comment, it's not really clear if she's amused or thoughtful either way. "Let me know when your teams on Ropes Ensign, and Spider will get his bird flying guard for you guys. I'll be close also." She says.

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] The team of four engineers starts climbing out of the Raptor's cargo bay, once they've got the signal from Kassia. The strong clamps on boots make soundless thunks onto the Kharon's hull, four dark shapes now moving with painful slowness over the carrier's metal skin. Towards the maintenance panel they go, accessing it with an electronic code and sliding the huge metal 'door' to the side on its sliding hinge. It's a bit stuck from damage, and the panels underneath are a mess.

[TAC3] "Poet" Roubani says, "Flash, Roubani. We're in place."

[Wolf-1: Kai] Kai keeps to a tight guard pattern for the time being, bird strafing in close to the raptor trying to jimmy up to the side of the Kharon. Every so often, his helmeted head twists to gain a visual on his wingmen.

[Wolf-3: Martin] Holding firm, Martin breathes quietly, keeping his voice off of the comm after making a few wise-assed comments. Huffing quietly, he stares off at the starfield, looking for signs of movement while maintaining his pattern, like a good CAP pilot should.

[TAC3] "Kharon Actual" Sheridan says, "Spider, be advised our DRADIS has picked up a blip on our long-range sensors. We are trying to see if we can find it again, or if it was just a ghost. Eyes open. And for frak's sake, CIC doesn't want to hear any more about Dash's cycle."

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Case's laughter might be heard over comm also, but she slightly orients her bird out, trying to get a wider scanning radius, even if she doesn't have a hope compared to the ship's computers.

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] The infinite blackness of space looks very different when you don't have the comfort of a Viper cockpit to shield you from it. Roubani spends a few seconds just sort of looking out into the vastness, unable to help it. One of the voices of his engineers drags him back, goosebumps prickling on the back of his neck. These foot clamps better hold. "Alright…" he clears his throat quietly, talking into their circuit comms. "Kharon's not going anywhere while this is down, so let's work quickly. Charis, get a scan on the thermal baryon regulator, see how badly off it is. Haight, you're with me. The external polarizing array is going to need a new passive switch."

[Wolf-3: Martin] Smirking darkly beneath his helmet, Dash decides it's time to stop commenting on his lack of period. They did, after all, ask him what was wrong. Eyes narrowing and checking his Dradis, he keeps in formation as he double-checks the sensors for the signs of blips in the distance.

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia hangs the Raptor a little away from the side of teh ship giving the rapair teams enough room to move, yet close enough to bug oyr if need be. The comments from acually get a chuckle from her, as she preform a few checks of her own equipment…

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Sam swings her bird around, falling into the well trained sweeping pattern, all business now that they're hunting for something…

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] One of the engineers gives Roubani a dubious look at the pilot talk. Contacts, whut. The Ensign shakes his helmeted head, pointing to the panel. Focus, dammit.

[TAC3] "Dash" Martin says, "Spider, Dash, Copy that."

[Wolf-1: Kai] Kai inverts his viper smoothly, rolling right-side up again, and punches his thrusters as the trio of vipers embark upon their patrol.

[Wolf-3: Martin] Fanning out into the delta pattern, Dash gives a bit more room to the spread as he bursts behind Spider's Viper. Eyes watching the view forward, he takes a moment to adjust his gloves and double check his readouts before scanning up and over the dome of his Viper. Looking for both visual clues as well as the sound of Dradis contacts, he lets out a slow breath. "…so far, Martin…this is turning out to be a shitty day…"

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] "Where are they going?" Charis, one of the crewmen, asks Roubani as the vipers roll away. "Smoke break," Roubani replies without inflection, turning on a light to shine onto the damaged panel. "Tertiary transducer…getting an error. Patch in right here."

[TAC3] "Kharon Actual" Sheridan says, "Negatory, keep the bird on the wire. We can not jump without that repair. Keep him in the water as long as possible. We need that fix."

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] Haight freezes when the comm channel announces raiders headed for them, nearly fumbling his work tools. Roubani's head doesn't even raise, the tension in his shoulders invisible in this suit. Stakes just went up, and the Kharon's a sitting duck. "Haight, eyes down. Everyone keep working, focus."

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia looks out of her screen, and towards thoes on the hull, slowly she eases herself forwards a little so she's between them and anything approaching from the front, she'll buy em time if need be. "You ok out there, Roubani?" She asks.

[Wolf-3: Martin] Shaking his head angrily inside of his cockpit, Martin spits his words out over the comm and moves to fall in to provide cover for Case on the way in. Priming his weapons, he goes off-mic for a moment. "FRAK…I knew this shit was gonna happen…"

[TAC3] "Case" Samantha says, "Acknowledged, moving now."

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Samantha swings immediately out, hitting her engines and picking up a good bit of speed for the intercept. Even by her flying here, it's clear she's eager for the fight. Ready for fire, and free of being someone else's wingman (something she hadn't done in a well) she's flying open, free and fast.

[Wolf-1: Kai] With a couple of minutes remaining to intercept, Kai is, in a word (two, to be precise), punching it. His fighter rockets out at 'point' position, one hand lifting to the console above his head to flip his weapons on.

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, " Actual, this is Rabbit, green for tubes"

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] "Shit. /Shit/ they're leaving us out here. Frak," Charis hisses, as she glances up towards where the Vipers split, moving to struggle upwards. Roubani's hand reaches out and grabs the shoulder of her suit. "If we let the Kharon sit here like this, /we/ are the ones leaving us all out here. We're right here with you. Eyes down." He lets go, working faster now as Haight and the other engineer wrassle with wires. "Charge is interfering with the secondary ionizing coil. Start a re-polarize array."

[Wolf-3: Martin]
Remaining slacked on Sam's five o'clock, Martin narrows his eyes and keeps pace with her. Adrenaline injecting into his veins, he glances at her ship and then to the direction that they are heading. No…no time for thinking. Features going cold, he takes that small, quiet moment to put himself in the zone.

[TAC3] "Case" Samantha says, "Sounds lovely to me. I'll even cook for ya if we bring a few catches home."

[Wolf-1: Kai] And there they are: five sleek, crescent-winged fighters slipping like silver-backed fish through the black. There's a steady ping on the vipers' DRADIS now, as they fan out and throttle in, guns blazing.

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Nevice remains quiet her eyes constantly flickering between her Draids and the window before her, eyes peeled for any sign of trouble. She cants her head to teh side almost relieved to hear the extra vipers launching. "See, we got more coming in." She says softly to thoes outside. "You'll be fine, nothing to it." She hopes she sounds reasuring.

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, " Rebound, Rabbit, form up on me, and we'll join th' hunters in the field."

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] "Secondary coil's not responding, sir." Haight's voice is shaking with tension, as are his hands. Roubani grits his teeth, grabbing the scanner hooked into the wires. "Bad patch. Re-tap it…localise down to 55. Charis, run a multiphase scan."

[Wolf-6: Hale] Rabbit screams from the tube and is hurrying to where the readings are coming out from. Now the odd just got a bit even, 5v5 will go a wee bit better this go about, less chance for a pilot to find themselves doubled up on-hopefully. No one will bloody be able to tell with Raiders. And so he's hurrying to make his damnedest entrance ever. Just give him time. The bloody Cavalry is on its way.

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] Talk about scrambled. Fingers' viper is out of the tubes like woah, launched and pedal to the metal in a hard burn toward the combat. Zoooooom. Which way did dey go, George. Which way did dey go.

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Samantha warms up her weapons as they are coming to bear in, trying to angle her bird so she can open fire almost the moment they are in range. Now that she's more accustomed to these Mark VI systems, she is definitely flying smoother than their last combat.

[Wolf-3: Martin] With the thrill of combat pumping into his veins, Martin narrows his eyes and selects one of the incoming targets. Lining up the shot for the initial pass through eachothers' ranks, he considers a silent prayer for the moment, and then decides against it. "Frak it…"

[Wolf-1: Kai] Apparently intent upon barreling headlong into the group of engaging raiders, and letting his wingmen pick 'em off like flies, Kai swoops in like a sparrow on crack, guns sparking into the midst of the enemy fighters before he drops off in an effort to lure them into chasing.

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] Roubani and the engineers are still working fast on this panel, even if Haight is looking like he might pass out at any second. Charis has her focus back for the time being, and poor unnamed engineer number three is switching out wires. Red, blue, just not the green ones. "Charis, I need those scan results," Roubani's voice tells the engineers through the comm, gloves hands tapping buttons on one of the small machines patched into the computer in the panel. It's not working. "Like /now/ now, not later now."

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Case opens with a strafing run, trying to get some shots off without actually drawing too much fire in her own direction. At least she lands a shot or two on her intended target before she swings around again, taking position with Kai, doing her best to watch his back and keep the Raider off of his ass as she falls into firing again.

[Wolf-3: Martin]
The inside of Martin's cockpit erupts with the shake and shudder of gunfire. Cannons opening fire in a flashing burst of full auto, Dash crushes past the incoming volley unscathed, scoring a hit on his way by. His head whipping about as they pass, he flips his Viper to cruise backwards, well prepared for their return. Soaring at the same velocity, only now facing away from the direction he's heading, he continues to open fire as the dogfight begins.

[Wolf-1: Kai] While his guns manage to pepper one of the enemy fighters that's swung onto Samantha's tail, Kai in turn gets battered by the two raiders that've taken a sudden liking to him. He breaks off hard to starboard, cranking his fighter into a high-G turn as the third raider breaks off to tail him, then jukes hard to port in an effort to throw off its aim.

[Wolf-6: Hale] Coming in from the black, though there are no bloody horns or the like are two silver birds, dropping in like Crows from the bloody Murder. Rabbit pushes his bird in coming down to come after the last Raider to open fire on the nearest bit of his comrades. And guns come in quick blazing, starting right as he barely gets the bugger in line. Time to break up this little party. Send em scattering.

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia is starting to get just a little nerves at this point, she fidgets in her seat her eyes going to watch the battle before her play out on the Draids and in her ears.

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] As a volley of fire and return fire lights up the black of space, the cavalry hits a hard burn to join in the fight, Fingers among them. Jupes just happens to catch a raider on the wide portion of a strafing run, and she bird dogs that sucker like it's hunting season. Which it is. It's kinda like that raider just turned into a juicy cartoon turkey.

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Apologies for the fashionably late entrance, folks. Looks like you saved us some. Very thoughtful of you."

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "CAP, Rabbit, Mind if we cut in? Dance seems a little too crowded."
Kai (Karim) pages Kassia and Roubani: To make matters worse, one of the snipes is panicking, and got detached from his tow line, and 'fell off' the ship. ;)

[TAC3] "Case" Samantha says, "Yeah, well, I hate to be selfish, Fingers. And I do love to watch you fry a toaster."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Such things you say, Case."

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, "Rebound here. I think the ratio's a little…unfavorable. It's like a Gemenese monastery. For tinheads."

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] Haight fumbles a tool and curses into his comm, reaching down to unhook a clamp on his feet. As he twists around to try and grab for the floating scanner, his body suddenly just…keeps on going. The tow line attached to his back jerks and comes loose, winding around his foot and pulling him backwards. Right out into zero gravity blackness. Charis starts to get up, panicked, but Roubani's voice comes over comm. "Charis, /keep working/. Nevice, Roubani. Crewman Haight's taking a dive, pick him up for us would you?"

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Samantha apparently means business. This time, she fires striahgt into the body of the one on Kai, who she is backing up as a wingman right now, and she rips the thing open. Her cheer can be heard across the coms as she briefly celebrates, and takes a rather hard hit for it… She swears as quickly as she was cheering, but keeps going, intent on finishing this one off.

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia jerks her head around, as her eyes catch sight of the runaway crewman. "I'm on it Ensign." She says going to brake away slowly from her guard position and follow after the crewman. "Steady there, Haight. I'm coming to get you, deep breaths you've trained for this, just take it easy." She says softly into her mic. "There, we go I'm almost to you."

[TAC3] "Flash" Kassia says, "Spider, Flash here. We just got us a runway picking him up now."

[Wolf-3: Martin]
Martin growls and narrows his eyes, keeping them on the prize. Bursting forward to provide Kai with some cover, he continues into the fight while his wingmen are taking hits. "GET OFF OF EM!" He barks angrily, narrowing his eyes as he continues to dogfight with the Raiders.

[Wolf-1: Kai] Spider's intent, of course, wasn't so much to pour lead into anything, as to keep his three bandits from pouring lead into *him*. His bird pitches and rolls like a drunken sailor. The hail of gunfire slips right by him, though some of it's a close call: he loses a bit of paint to one overzealous attacker. His own tracerfire finds nothing, which seems to suit him just fine. Rolling again, he guns into a fast merge with Jupiter and rolls out another battery of shots.

[Wolf-6: Hale] Hale curses as his shots go wide, but he does manage to help line him up for a paint scrapping by his wingman. he stays hard on the gas- or so it seems as his viper stays on the raider's tail, running hard like a rabbit. And so taking lead Hale, keeps on his hunt, KEW opening up as he tries to get a piece of the action, or if anything swing him again into Rebound's LOS. Ahh the joys of hunting these bastards.

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] "Watch that tow line, Nevice," Roubani's dark eyes flick up, watching the raptor go for Haight. "Don't get him tangled in it." And though he keeps an eye on that fiasco, his main attention is on the panel that they're now trying to repair with only three sets of hands rather than four. Sutter, the other engineer still on the hull, seems to have an cool enough head. "Come on, focus. We've almost got it," Roubani's voice is, granted, not complete calm but it is focused. "Sutter, get that tap finished. It's static here."
New DRADIS Contact: Wolf-5 arrives from Hangar Bay #1 - Hangar Deck.

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] The first volley of Wolf-8 into the frey brings a nice little peppering of damage to the body of Fingers' target. Sadly the little bugger doesn't have the courtesy to 'splode, so she re-aligns to tag it on the way 'round, with a weather eye to the location of her wing.

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Spider, you're making me dizzy. I didn't caffeinate before I came up here."

[Wolf-5: Willem] Rebound's Viper closes on the action, sticking to Hale's wing. He takes this whole 'section' thing seriously. Cruising securely on Rabbit's Five, he hits the throttle and closes in on his ad-hoc sec lead's target, tearing lightly into the target Raider's weapon systems.

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Dash, Fingers. There's a bandit coming your way. I tagged his ass, but swapping back to the over zealous guest on my wing's ass. Call me if you need me."

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Samantha keeps on the Raider she's been mowing down this whole time, at least stickign around to finish the job. When she sees it go up in flames she gives another cheer before swinging around and heading for the one that is now on Martin's ass… She definitely is flying more comfortable, and a bit more wild, than she was the last combat. She's almost at home here.

[Wolf-3: Martin] Yanking his flight yoke in the direction of the Raider that's bearing down on Case's tail, Dash's Viper emits gas from the nose as it slides along the field of battle to strafe alongside it in a stylish maneuver. Thumbing the trigger and holding it down, tracer rounds pummel the Raider as it attempts to get a shot out on Case. Rocked by the damage to its fuselage, the shots go wide before they punch through the 'head' of the Raider. Crumpling up and dying in a small bit of internal explosive and implosion, Dash narrowly avoids being shot in the process. He starts to go evasive.

[Wolf-6: Hale] Rabbit keeps lined on his target as the Raptor gets a bit tricky between he and his wingman. words course over the wireless, as he quickly spins, bank right, as Another Raider comes in and starts taking pot shots on his tail. And ever so it seems that Hale's caught between keeping the chase and saving his Arse. Could make this better or bloody worse. Also add in the battery fire from Kharon and things are going bloody great.

[Wolf-1: Kai] That's what you call a 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am'. Fortunately, Spider's got a bit more class than that. No whistling, whooping or general viper jock stupidity from the Captain; he pours in his rounds with a one-two punch that earns he and his wingman the splash, before swooping off after a raider that's trying to sneak through and pummel their raptor.

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] "Got it, sir." Sutter throws a handful of destroyed wiring over his shoulder, and it starts to float away. No point in saving what you can't fix. He grabs a soldering iron, working fast on one of the tiny circuitboards. "Good, we're almost there…Charis, any further anomalies in that field?" Charis looks optimistic, her heat pounding as she flicks through the tests. "None, it's good, sir." Roubani's about to say more when something catches his eye nearby. Blinking, in this part of the hull? His brows furrow as he squints in the beams of light from their repair gear. "What…?" He glances at the two working, then out at the flashes of light from the vipers in combat. "Keep going, get that soldered and prepare to pull back." He pulls at the grasp of his foot clamps, venting a small hiss, and starts crawling the perilous little climb towards the out-of-place blinking light.

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, " Rebound, Rabbit, You alright mate? Also we got another coming in on m' tail. I can string him along if you can come an knock him out.."

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] A brief barrel roll by Jupiter takes her under Kai's wing to pull a shot off the cuff. Her firepower combined with that of the section lead renders a bandit unto chunky space debris. Awwww yeah. In a moment she maneuvers, a few chunks of raider pinging off the body of her viper, and rejoins the section lead in formation.

[Wolf-5: Willem] Rebound's Viper and that particularly unforunate Raider he has been focused on are locked in something of a dance, already. Bob, weave, bank, roll, a shot is fired, taken, another. Hitting hard to port, Wil's guns tear a decent chunk out of the Raider's engine. As he corrects his course to a keep a lock on said Raider, the Cylon craft breaks -hard- and likewise strikes a glancing blow at the Viper's engine systems. Rebound steadies his bird after a quick check of his situation and brings his ship around for another pass.

[TAC3] "Rebound" Willem says, "Oh. Frak. Rebound here. I'm allright…Just took a chunk of lead in one of the engines. I've had worse. Got it, Rabbit. I'm still on him."

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, "Roger that I'm going to try and shake the Bastard coming in on us. Lets mop this frakker up and quick now."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Sounds like fun, Spider. Last one to paint a hull buys the drinks."

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] The two engineers work like quick foxes on the panel behind Roubani, soldering and closing up. The Ensign is in the middle of reaching for the blinking…thing when something throws him off balance, sending him stumbling into some upright panel. Straight into the bad arm. And that? Hurts like a bitch. His vision through the helmet gets a little blurry as that makes his eyes sting like mad, his teeth gritting so hard it's a wonder they don't crack. He sucks in a pained breath through his teeth and reaches for the blinking thing again, trying to get his gloved fingers around it.

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia moves up along side the tumbling crewman, whom managers to grab a hold onto the Raptor, his breathing can be heard loudly. "I got him." She says once she gets comfirmation from the crewman. "Coming to bring him back to you, now Roubani."

[Wolf-3: Martin]
Leading the Raider on a string, Dash makes uncomfortable comments over the tactical channel and decides to shut up as he dodges above and to the port side of a trail of tracerfire. Juking as he's being pursued, he starts to sweat bullets. Focusing hard on his work, he is being actively chased by the Raider, as it starts to take damage. Unwilling to glance to his DRADIS, Dash continues to bob and weave, presenting a hard target.

[Wolf-6: Hale] As it seems the bloody bastard is intent on taking a chunk of his bird, Rabbit cuts thrusters and flips himself back around, coming belly up on the other Raider behind him. Shots rip and catch his body, as he spins in place, the KEW fire streaming, as his own guns shoot off the wing, and then pierce through the rest of the Raider, sending it to its toaster grave.

[TAC3] "Dash" Martin says, "Frak, Case, Dash…he's still back there. I'm allright just don't make an afternoon out of this, girl…"

[Wolf-4: Samantha] There is some faint swearing that sounds like Case over the comm channel as she and Martin's toaster doesn't just roll it's belly over. She readjusts her body, keeping her weapons hot on the one on Martin's tail, dead serious. She might be a bit more fierce than usual, but dammit, the thing is riding Martin's ass!

[TAC3] "Case" Samantha says, "I got him in my sights… one more pass and he should be tagged and bagged. Keep yourself together, handsome."

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] "Copy that, Nevice." Roubani's face is still tight, pain in his arm awake with a raging vengeance now. He yanks back on something his hands around, dislogding it. Blinking light, a little device about the size of a textbook with a perimeter of glowing lights. He stares at it, frowning hard enough to bring lines to the corners of his eyes, and quickly turns back towards the others. "Status report, are we good?"

[Wolf-1: Kai] The poor bastard didn't stand a chance under Spider and Fingers' combined gunfire. The lead's rounds rip through the machine's body, and his wingman's tear it to shreds. The two halves whip off in opposite directions before the fighter explodes— its rounds never did manage to reach the raptor performing its daring rescue of a crewmember. Spider yanks hard on the stick, which has just gotta be pouring on the Gs as he inverts into a tight pitchback and strafes back in to the fight.

[Wolf-8: Jupiter] Raider didn't need that engine, did it? Another duel dose of Spider+Fingers=EPICRAIDERFAILZ. While Kai makes short work of the raider's weapons array, Jupiter punches a hole in the unsuspecting bastards engines. Space stall. The beast is rapidly chewed up in a crossfire. On the heels of Spider's hard maneuver, Jupiter pulls a mirror move just three seconds later. Zooom.

[Wolf-5: Willem] Willem's a good little soldier, here. He seems to be adhering to the 'thousand cuts' strategy as he brings his bird hard around and riddles the seame Raider with cannon fire. Of course, the lion's share of the damage is inflicted by Spider and Fingers' section, but every little bit helps, right? He rolls, throttling back as he sets his sights on the remaining Raider.

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "Copy, Roubani. Get your ass back in that raptor. Flash, soon as he's in, punch it back to base."

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] Kassia returns to the engineering team just as Roubani says they've finished. "Ok, boys I'm back ready when you are to bug back home." She says eager to get out here and away from the Raiders.

[TAC3] "Flash" Kassia says, "Spider, Flash, roger that I'm out of here as soon as they are onboard."

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] "Charis, Sutter," Roubani's voice crackles on the comm. "Seal it up and get back to the raptor, let's go." The engineers? Are all too frakking happy to get the hell out of dodge, and as that panel's yanked back into place they're running. Except this is in marshmellow suits with magnetic clamps, so it ends up being, literally, in slow-motion. Roubani is last in, waiting until the other two and moved their asses before getting into the bird, with that weirdly blinking prize.

[Wolf-4: Samantha] Sam makes another run at the Raider on Martin's ass, leaving it's damage hull even more scarred than before but letting one of the others take it out. She shouts a cheer as it finally does explode behind them, swinging around to take the lead of her little team but she passes by Martin, getting a visual look over his ship to be certain he's nit hurting too badly.

[TAC3] "Case" Samantha says, "Nice work, Rebound, Dash… Almost wish we had a few pieces to bring home and inspect, but it's nice to see'em go up, ain't it… Time to go home now?"

[Wolf-5: Willem] It's all a numbers game. Rebound jerks his head to one side, spotting the lonely, pathetic Cylon Raider harassing the Colonial Forces. It doesn't have a ghost of a chance, really. As one of several fighters closing in, thrusters fire as his slightly gimped engine pulls his bird along and a hail of rounds erupts from his KEW, putting some big nasty holes(tm) in its fuselage. He's not the only one, though. In space, nobody can hear you howl in bloodthirsty triumph. Unless the Wireless is on.

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "No time for trash pickin', Case. You'll just have to find some poor sap's balls to put above your bunk. Shouldn't take you that long."

[Foxbat-1: Roubani] Charis looks rather miffed at being called a boy. But she's about to puke from adrenaline, so she says nothing.

[Wolf-3: Martin] Breathing a sigh of relief as the Raider behind him goes to toast, Dash's viper is untouched. With one kill under his belt and fired on consistently throughout the fight, his ego's going to be through the roof. Pressing his hand to the cockpit's side in a thank you to Samantha as she checks on him, Martin glances over his Dradis and falls back on her wing to cover her.

[Wolf-6: Hale] Hale brings his bird about to form up with Kai and Fingers, after getting control of his bird again after the head on fire fight he previously got out of. Rabbit grumbles slightly, as he keeps a tight hand on the stick. A glance around to make sure all is clear.

[Wolf-1: Kai] Alas, Spider and Fingers are too late to join in the fireworks, not that their help was precisely needed anyway. The squadron leader 'flaps' his wings at his wingman as they come out of the hard burn, and after a quick check of DRADIS shows no more contacts, he flips his comms on again and rolls away from the exploding wreckage.

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "For that, you'll have to do a woman."

[TAC3] "Rabbit" Hale says, " Rebound, Rabbit form back up and lets get em back home."

[Wolf-4: Samantha] As Sam sees Martin's glove against his window… her own comes up. An unspoken, tiny gesture, but it means the world. Her own bird is slightly scorched, but totally flying fine still. She slows a bit in her passing him, gloves and windows between them, before she finally falls into place.

[TAC3] "Spider" Kai says, "All right, all points RTB. Kharon, you should be able to get your FTL back online, and we're reading no contacts out here."

[Foxbat-1: Kassia] :leans back in her seat and sighs softly, her helmet is cracked and a hand run through her curly hair. "you guys ok back there?" She asks, turning around slowly to see the rest of her team. She then stands once fully around and sighs softly. "Well I'm going to report in, hope the ride wasn't too bumpy."

[TAC3] "Fingers" Jupiter says, "Very funny, bunny."

[Wolf-5: Willem] And…that's that. Willem's slightly damaged Viper requires a bit more push than normal, as the speed sensitivity is not exactly up to par, after the hit he took. However, he makes it. The Viper makes the trap, and is safely planted on the deck.

Roubani and the three engineers have climbed out of Foxbat. Charis and Haight in particular look shaken, and after requesting their dismissal from Roubani they're off to report. Or faint. Sutter the Sullen is also dismissed to report in, and he heads off with his usual stompiness. Roubani remains behind, watching the Vipers come in one by one. The 'textbook' he'd pulled off the hull is wrapped up in a discarded flightsuit.

[Wolf-1: Kai] Kai, too, isn't pulling anything fancy on his landing. Okay, maybe a little. He skips over his wingman's bird, and touches down with a few sparks ahead of her; nothing much, just enough to get his weight down on the rolling deck before he skids to a stop.

Having made the trap, with the hard part of the landing process over, a couple deckhands come scurrying up to Willem's slightly…dented Viper. Canopy pops open, the crewmember closest helps him out of his helmet as he scrambles out of the cockpit onto a newly-provided ladder. These guys are all business as the pilot is thrust a post-flight checklist clipboard and he grimaces a little. "Well -that- was a change of pace." He mutters as he takes in a deep breath, his sweaty, space-pale face glistening in the artificial light of the hangar deck. His head lolls to one side as he studies one of the engines on his bird. The slightly thrashed one. "Hoooo."

Hale has clambered out of his viper and removed the Helmet with a curse, as he's looking back to his bird, catching the bloody bullet holes the raider left in his body. Not exactly nice, but she won't be down for long..or so he's hoping "Frak.." comes Rabbit's words. " I was bloody lucky I got that damned kill.."

Samantha makes her own landing smooth as silk, even if her bird is a bit damaged, it certainly wasn't enough for her to feel it or it to affect her piloting. She watches as the others come in, waiting until it's safe to pop her hood and pull off her helmet, swinging smoothly up and out of the seat with a kick of her legs. She bypasses the stairs, really, leaping down, full of adrenaline and energy…"That was frakking beautiful."

Finally getting towed into place, Martin pops the canopy and rips his helmet off to display a full head of sweaty, post combat hair. Stowing his helmet, he climbs down the ladder and unzips the front of his flight suit so that his skin can breathe a bit better. Turning to look at his unscathed Viper, he runs a hand over his face to get some sweat out of his brow. Looking to Sam, he nods upwards to her and starts to look around for Jupiter. "Thanks for coverin my ass, Sammy…"

Kai climbs out of Wolf-1.
Kai has arrived.

Samantha just stares at Martin…"I'd say you're welcome, but you ever call me Sammy again and I don't think you'll be thankin' me for anything for a long… Long time." But she seems a hint more comfortable with him again, slipping over to his side and giving his arm a brief, encouraging rub. "But yeah, it was good to fly with ya."

Roubani counts Vipers as they come in, his brows furrowed until Wolf-1 has appeared last in line, watching that one until it's come down safely and the cockpit's started to open. Then it's the victory camraderie that he watches for a little bit, with a slight smile. A fold of the flightsuit's turned up as he lingers there, the blinking object in his arms drawing a frown back onto his face.

Puttering through his post-flight checklist, Willem studiously keeps his gaze locked on the wounded engine for just a bit longer than necessary, circling around the bird. Finally, he shelves the clipboard. He's putting work off, sure. But the immediates are covered. This taken care of, he turns towards Hale and unexpectedly shoots Rabbit a big, shit-eating grin. "Pretty slick, Lieutenant. Pretty slick." If nothing else, this snapped him out of his odd turn of mood displayed around the other man, earlier.

Kai pops the canopy of his fighter, and submits briefly to the assistance of that same nerve-wracked petty officer, in getting unstrapped from his harness and helmet. She's flickered a quick smile as he climbs out, and scales the ladder with a thunk of boots when he reaches the bottom. A scan of the hangar bay finds his wingman first, then the rest of his squadron, and a certain Engineering Ensign who should have popped out of the raptor not too long ago. Once he does, his upper lip is sucked between his teeth briefly and then released. Off he goes to play jocular Captain.

Hale chuckles, or rather it sounds more like one of those frakking cackles that the mad offer out. Or the big hearted Leonisians. "Right-right mate. Crike that bugger was pokin hole all through me innards." notes made on the post flight clipboard after it is passed to him. "Good riding with ya Rebound. damned fine hunter-mate damned fine." A look over towards Sam and Martin. A nod to them as he rounds out to take a gander at his Wingman's bird. "Oh frakkin hell..Nice engine.."

That's everyone but Jupiter. Roubani's eyes flicker around, looking for her, but it seems this group will have to do. He tugs the fabric back over the blinking 'book' in his arm and crosses the short distance to where the pilots are celebrating. Quietly, as he tends to do, and once there he pauses to wait for a brief hole in the conversation. "Sirs," he says, when that pause happens. All of them might not even hear him. "Thank you."

Whatever's been bothering Martin seems to have been placed on the back burner for now, but it's still very evident in his eyes. Kissing his hand, he slaps the side of Wolf-3 and then smirks at Samantha. "…was a pleasure, Case." He says, slugging her shoulder lightly and then ruffling her hair. Watching Wolf-8 land, he moves to where Jupiter is, making a beeline for her. "Hey…you got a second?"

Willem steals glances to some of the other personnel who have hit the deck. A salute is tossed off in the distance towards the Captain. And oddly…Jupiter? He shoots a more subdued smirk at the S & M team and smiles faintly at the Raptor group in turn. Finally, though, well, he's already got a conversation going with Rabbit. Politeness is politeness, after all. He simply smirks again at Rabbit as he continues his checklist. "This ought to cost a few shots to fix." He mumbles, half to himself. He narrows his eyes at the Lieutenant as he looks back at the other pilot's Viper. "Ouch."

Samantha nods flatly to Dash, watching him go, but she doesn't quite follow yet. She just sighs, looking back at her rather injured bird and cursing very faintly. she'd prefer the thing to be in tact. She pats the side of her ship once more and then looks towards Kai…"We dismissed, sir? Want a debriefing at all?"

Jupiter hops out of her viper after checking a few items in the console, and being helped out of her flight helmet. It's a short trip down the ladder before she pulls off her gloves, and shoves them into a pocket.

And indeed, nobody seems to have heard him. Hardly strange, but it is awkward. Roubani takes a step back from the group and turns to head off through the bay.

"Good flying up there, Rebound. You too, Rabbit." The taller man (hell, most men are taller than Kai) gets a slap to the back of his shoulder as the Captain passes by. "Dismissed, Case, I'll be filing my report with the CAG, so you're off the hook. Ensign Roubani." He alters course to head for the pilot-turned-engineer, limp a teensy bit more pronounced tonight.

Looking over his shoulder at Roubani, eyes falling over Case again, Martin stops near Jupiter's ladder. "Hey…Peanut." He says, looking to her. Leaning in, he mutters something quietly to her, eyebrows lowered as if something is wrong.

Samantha looks over to Roubani and Kassia for just a heartbeat or two, and the other engineers. "Good…good work, you lot… frakking dangerous out there. DOn't think I could do it. Thank ya…" She admits quietly, knowing they were hanging onto the side of a ship during a fire fight, even if the fight was further away.

Hale smiles back to Kai, as one hand moves and pats the Captain back Hard. A chuckle given as he nods with Willem and goes back to checking out his bird. Shower and rack time after that. Maybe try to sleep. A look is given to Roubani and a knock of knuckles to his forehead in silent salute. Man did a good job. Real damned fine work.

Jupiter glances over to Martin and nods at him. "Yeah." She watches her brother for a moment, then her eyes skim the bay. She looks to her fellow pilots briefly, then reaches up to unzip her flight suit a bit, revealing a tank underneath. "Just say when." That last is quietly directed to Martin.

Roubani turns back as he hears his name, arm wrapped securely around that strange little 'package' dislodged from the side of the ship. He sort of bows his head a little towards Samantha. "We would be splatter on the windshield if not for you." A slight smile at her, tired but at least sincere. The 'salute' from Hale gets a puzzled look but he gives it right back. Boy's so white. Then to Kai, "Yes, sir?"

Samantha waves it off…"Yeah. Still, you were out there. So.. thanks." and she looks down to the package just a moment, definitely curious, but she shakes the thoughts off and continues heading towards the locker room to get out of her flight suit.

There's a rumble as the ship's FTL drives power up, and a crackle over the comms as the announcement to jump in ten seconds is given. It's a little difficult talking over the countdown, but they're viper pilots; they're used to raucousness. "I'm sure the ChEng will debrief you in the morning, but.. good work up there." His eyes flicker over the Ensign, though he doesn't touch him, doesn't slap him on the back. "Glad to see you're still in one piece. Proud of you." Words. Are not Marek's forte.

"Got a quick moment now? I know you're wanting to hit the showers and all but…" Martin flattens his lips, running his hands through his sweaty hair. "Shit…no…after dinner or something." He turns away from her, shoving her shoulder playfully as he turns. "…did good Sis…see you back at the bunks." He says, heading towards where he can get a shower.

"I'm always good, Boner," Jupiter replies with a smirk. She watches her brother go, shakes her head, then goes to find the clipboard for her bird and make a few notes.

Martin smirks and looks back to Jupiter over his shoulders as he heads through the door, heading down the stairs towards the berthings, moving in silence.

A back slap probably would've caused Roubani to scream in pain at this point anyway. His arm's on fire from shoulder to fingers. Three fingers, at least. Still, his face is stoic as ever. He gives Kai a formal nod. "It was good to see such a victory for the air wing, Captain. So very good."

Kai's eyes alight upon his wingman by her bird, taking notes, then cut back to Roubani as he shifts the helmet under his arm. He's sweaty, too; there's a trickle of it running down the back of his neck, and plastering his short hair to his skull. "Right." He nods once to Roubani, glances to the thing in his arms, then away again. None of his business. "Rest well tonight." And he's turning away.

Roubani seems a little distracted as he talks to Kai. No doubt because of the blinking 'baby' in his arms. "I will. You too." That's said a little more softly, and he turns away again. He's got things to dismantle.

Meanwhile, dot dot dot. Scratch scratch scratch. Willem continues scribbling on the surface of the clipboard as he methodically tears through his post-flight checklist pensively. He's effectively shelved being social for the past few minutes. That is soon to end, however.

Jupiter glances up at the viper, which appears to be on good repair, and continues filling in a section on that clipboard. Seems she has a lot to say about it. There's a moment more of scritching of pencil on board while a deckhand looks on nearby. Jupes clips the writing tool onto the board, salures the crewman with it, then hands over the mess. "Stick's a little loose and I think someone spilled coffee in the cockpit."

Kai turns on his heel, and heads in the opposite direction. Back toward the vipers, in a route that takes him past Jupiter and her checklist. "Good flying out there today, Fingers," he comments mildly in passing. He pauses to run his hand over the nose of her viper, eyes on the bird rather than the pilot.